Salary versus hectares: how Oleksandr Buryachenko and his wife suddenly became large landowners

The chief pensioner of the Odesa region, Oleksandr Buryachenko, together with his wife, demonstrated phenomenal success in landownership. In just one year, their family assets were replenished with eight new plots. How did a typical civil servant family quadruple its land holdings in a year, and do the appetites align with official income?

This is written by GunDolla.

Eight plots in a year: the Buriachenkos family sets a new land record

An analysis of the latest declarations of officials often yields surprises, but this case truly impresses with its scale. The head of the Pension Fund Management in the Odesa region, Oleksandr Buryachenko, can be proud of his partner, because eight new land plots were registered for her within one calendar year.

If you add these acquisitions to what was already owned, it forms a solid collection of eleven land plots. Add two apartments, and you get a decent real estate empire. This tactic of registering the most valuable assets in family members has long been a classic of Ukrainian officialdom: formally nothing extra, but in fact an entire estate grows right beside you.

Where the money comes from: modest salary against large appetites

The question of the origin of wealth is always the most acute. According to the official declaration, the family’s financial capabilities look quite standard for a top official. Oleksandr Buryachenko himself earned about one million four hundred thousand hryvnias in salary over a year. His wife added almost one million two hundred thousand hryvnias to the family budget in dividends.